Have These Techies Solved Dispensaries’ Banking Problems?

Banking

One of the biggest problems legal dispensaries face is how to actually complete financial transactions, or banking. Since marijuana is illegal at the federal level, most banks will not let dispensaries open accounts with them. Major credit card companies have also refused to do business with dispensaries. Without normal bank accounts or the ability to run credit cards, most dispensaries are cash-only. And that creates a whole new set of problems.

Cash-only businesses are more likely to be robbed. They can also be a good way to launder money. This second problem has made banks even less willing to work with dispensaries. But now, a number of tech startups are coming up with what they see as possible solutions to this problem.

Lamine Zarrad used to work in the banking industry. Following that he was a federal banking regulator. Now he’s using his insider knowledge to create a new company called Tokken.

Tokken is a software app that could allow dispensaries to digitally track every single transaction. Basically, every time a dispensary sold something, it would be linked to a tiny Bitcoin transaction.

All Bitcoin transactions are permanently recorded in a digital record called a blockchain. By linking in-store activity to a blockchain, Tokken would help dispensaries create an official record of everything they do.

Nick is a Green Rush Daily staff writer from Fort Collins, Colorado. He has been at the epicenter of the cannabis boom from the beginning. He holds a Masters in English Literature and a Ph.D. in cannabis (figuratively of course).